Smashed

Smashed
Written by Drew Z. Greenberg
Directed by Turi Meyer

Original Airdate: November 20, 2001

Plot: Willow seeks out a new friend to share her interest in magic and de-rats Amy, causing the Scooby gang to have some concern over Willow's growing use of magic and her power. Spike discover that his chip will now allow him to attack and fight Buffy. Meanwhile, the three super villains break into a museum, use a freeze gun on a security guard and make off with a large and valuable diamond.

Review

Warning: If the chip you've got in your head to make you avoid SPOILERS is malfunctioning for any reason, you might want to turn back now. There are major SPOILERS just ahead for the latest episode of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, "Smashed."

In short: A couple of steps forward.

It's hard to really get a good read on "Smashed" simply because I have a feeling that a lot of the storylines that started here haven't been seen through to their conclusion yet. Yes, the episode lacked the words on screen stating it was "To Be Continued" but for all intents and purposes, they were there.

So, I will admit up front that this episode will be a bit more difficult to review than most, simply because it's only the first half of a train of events being set-up.

But, I'll do my best.

Overall, I have to say that, so far, I've liked what we've seen here. There was some of it that appealed to me more than others, but overall, I think we got a good first-Buffy script from Drew Z. Greenberg.

The story that really appealed to me the most was Amy's return from her rat status. Simply put, Amy's de-ratting has been a year or so overdue and it was wonderful to see it finally happen. Elizabeth Ann Allen stepped right back into her role as Amy and did a really nice job. Her whole performance hit all the right notes--from her initial de-ratting where she acted, well, rat-like to her slowly accepting reality and what had happened to her to her manipulating Willow into going out to the Bronze and then her pleasure at using magic as she and Willow changed things left and right in the Bronze, all of that worked. I haven't seen "Gingerbread" in quite a while (I know it aired last week on FX) but I don't remember her being this dark and manipulative. Of course, that was before she spent three years in a cage as a rat, so I guess that might be part of it.

Her manipulation of Willow was very subtle and it played into some of Willow's fears that we saw in Restless. In Restless, we saw a Willow who was afraid that she hadn't grown beyond the self-image of herself she had in high school. And here we see Amy use the line that they could stay home like Willow did in high school to get her to agree to an evening on the town.

And I think it was also interesting that while, at first, Willow was very uncomfortable with Amy's use of magic to manipulate things, she quickly got over it and joined in. I also found it interesting that on some level, Amy's spell to get the girl to come over to Willow and talk to her was almost the same type of personality manipulation that Willow had used on Tara. At first, we see Willow as horrified that this has happened, but we slowly see her begin to use her powers to change the world to how she wishes it would be. Yes, she turned down the offer, but I have to wonder had she been a bit farther removed from the pain of Tara's leaving if she wouldn't have been more accepting of the offer.

It should also prove interesting to see how far down the path Willow goes now that she has a partner in magic who doesn't have the same ethical objections that Tara did. Remember that Amy's mother was a pretty powerful witch. And it appears as though Amy is following the path her mother did. It will be interesting to see just how far down this path Willow will go and how long it takes her to realize she's gone too far.

And I say it again, I still feel as though Willow has no idea of the consequences of the spell she used to bring Buffy back. And I feel that that is where the big bad of season six lies--in the aftermath and fall-out of that spell.

Another interesting development to come out of the Amy's return storyline is the concern the rest of the Scooby gang have over Willow's growing power. We've seen Giles confront her about it and Tara left her because of it. Now, Buffy and the rest of the gang are concerned about it, which is interesting. I think the one thing that may come out of this is that Willow will find out they've been talking about her behind her back and be resentful. Certainly we've seen that Willow feels she's doing nothing wrong with her growing power and we've seen how she reacts when confronted about her abuse of it by Tara and Giles.

And I honestly have to think that the Scoobies have woken up too little too late when it comes to keeping an eye on Willow and her growing powers.

Meanwhile, we got another look at the Legion of Doom for Sunnydale with our new super villains. Frankly, I have to admit that while they're not as huge a threat as they think they are, they are still a riot and a nice diversion. I have to wonder just why they needed the diamond and what possible plot they are up to. But I figure this is something that we'll hopefully find more about next week. I cannot imagine they stole it just because it's pretty.

I also liked Spike coming to Warren for help with his chip. The entire sequence with Spike threatening Boba Fett was hysterical. And so were the comments about liking Doctor Who--but that's a personal bias since I love that show.

And I admit that when Spike first showed up at their place, I wondered if he had somehow figured they were up to something and wanted to join in to help them take out Buffy. Certainly, that seems like the kind of impulsive plan that he might come up with. And let's face it, the Legion of Doom might make a good distraction while Spike tried to destroy Buffy. After all, they have gone up against her and like Spike have learned of her weaknesses.

Which it will be interesting to see where any or all of this goes.

And it will be interesting to see if Spike goes back to his evil ways, now that he can hurt Buffy again.

There must be some unwritten rule on the Buffy staff that if you want a great performance, just give James Marsters some good material and let him run. Because it was Spike who really stole the show. Seeing Spike go through all of the tests to find out he could and couldn't attack people was nicely done. The barely contained glee at seeing he could hurt people and then his consternation when he couldn't feed on the girl in the alley and his sheer joy at taking Buffy on late in the episode and taunting that she wasn't fully right was all nicely done. It wasn't quite the tour-de-force that was Fool For Love last year, but it was a great job--which is what we've really come to expect from Marsters.

And I will admit a huge part of me hopes Spike goes back to the dark side and is the big bad for season six.

But another part of me hopes he doesn't. I just like what they've done with Spike the past couple of years and I'd hate to see all that go out the window.

As for Buffy's not being all human, that could be interesting. I wonder if it's something more like she's undead somehow--not quite vampire but not quite human. That could explain why she feel so emotionally distant from everyone and is attracted so strongly to Spike, who is undead like her.

As for Buffy and Spike's ending moments, I admit that it was a good job of direction and acting. I really like how Buffy shows things without showing. At first I thought I'd just imagined I'd heard a zipper, but then seeing the movement of the way Buffy and Spike were writhing against each other, I saw that it wasn't my imagination. The sequence was erotic without being too much or showing too much--which can be hard to do. It wasn't meant to be romantic and it achieved that also.

And it set up a lot of things to wonder about over the long holiday weekend.

So, I guess that's about it for now, except a few small things...

--Seeing Anya and Dawn spend the afternoon together was nicely done. You almost get the feeling that it's like Willow and Tara are divorcing the way Dawn is acting. It's interesting to see Dawn reaching out to them and not Buffy as parenting figures in her life--Tara especially. I hope this theme continues throughout the rest of the year.

--Well, here it goes...let me betray my geek-dom roots. There is no way the Legion of Doom could have seen EVERY episode of Doctor Who. There are large chunks of the 1960s era that were lost when the BBC deleted them. So, it's impossible for anyone who is his age to have seen them all. (I'm older than he is and I've not seen them all either). And there are only three Who stories currently out on DVD in the United States. Dear heavens, I really need a life...

Well, that's about it for now. Overall, I liked what I saw, but it's hard to judge to greatly since we didn't see a lot of the resolution of the plots. I think we will next week. But, so far so good.

My rating: 8.0 (out of 10.0)

Next up: The morning after for Spike and Buffy and Amy takes Willow to a demon who will enhance her growing powers...

"I've seen every episode of Doctor Who."

--Andrew.